Large aperture steerable trunnionmounted paraboloidal antenna



Oct. 20, 1964 E. ASHTON 3,1

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL. ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 '19 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORI EDWARD ASHTON E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 19 Sheets$heet 2 INVENTOR EDWARD L. ASHTON E. L. ASHTON 3,153,789

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Oct. 20, 1964 19 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 7, 1957 mxw y/ 4 k \m j INVENTOR 3 EDWARD L. ASHTON E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA l9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 7, 1957 INVENTOR.

EDWARD L. ASHTON W E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED' PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA 19 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 7, 1957 INVENTOR;

EDWARD L. ASHTON. 5 /%w% E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA l9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 7, 1957 LIL-L FIG. 9.

INVENTQR. EDWARD L. ASHTON M M Oct. 20, 1964 E. L. ASHTON 3,153,739

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June '7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTOR EDWARD L. ASHTON.

Oct. 20, 1964 E. ASHTON 3,153,789

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet 8 FIG. l4.

lNVE NTOR EDWARD ASHTON E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA 19 Sheets-Sheet 1O INVENTORZ EDWARD L. ASHTON. yMM

Filed June '7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet 11 E. L. ASHTON LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED FARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA EDWARD L. ASHTON.

ll il Oct. 20, 1964 Filed June '7, 1957 Oct. 20, 1964 E. ASHTON 3,

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June '7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet 13 INVENTOR= EDWARD L. ASHTON.

E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet l4 INVENTORZ EDWARD 1.. ASHTO'N Atty.

Oct. 20, 1964 E. ASHTON 3,

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet 15 INVENTOR EDWARD L. ASHTON.

6] Atty.

Oct. 20, 1964 E. L. ASHTON 3, 3

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNIONMOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet 16 M/llllllllllll/A m 1/ warn/[111 1 INVENTOR EDWARD L. ASHTON.

E. L. ASHTON 3,153,789

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Oct. 20, 1964 19 Sheets-Sheet 17 Filed June '7, 1957 inn INVENTOR EDWARD L. ASHTON.

mvdl Oct. 20, 1964 E. ASHTON 3,153,789

LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA Filed June 7, 1957 19 Sheets-Sheet l8 SINGLE ACTING TOGG LE III/II Ill/III IIIIII/II/I/A z/ DOUBLE ACTING TOGGLE INVENTOR EDWARD L. ASHTON.

E. L. ASHTON Oct. 20, 1964 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNION-MOUNTED PARABOLOIDAL ANTENNA 19 Sheets-Sheet 19 Filed June '7, 1957 INVENTOR:

EDWARD L. ASHTON.

Ranwmk Ni 3 mm E Tm 3,153,789 LARGE APERTURE STEERABLE TRUNNEGN- MO IUNTED PARABGLUZDAL ANTENNA Edward L. Ashton, 82th Park Road, Iowa Qity, Howa Filed .lune 7, 1957, Ser. No. 665,622 35 Claims. (Cl. 343-765) This invention relates in general to a paraboloidal antenna having a large aperture, and the general purpose of the invention is to greatly improve our present systems of radio communication and counter measures, and to extend the range and fields of vision in the related fields of radio-astronomy and astro-physics into unexplored areas, by providing a vast increase in the size of aperture currently available for use as a precise solid surface short-wave paraboloidal radio antenna, and also to provide means for making, mounting and directing the antenna so that it will be capable of being accurately directed to any point in the sky.

Other paraboloidal instruments have been made, used and proposed for construction but none of them approach the magnitude and versatility or precision which is made possible by this invention.

The disadvantages of previous instruments were principally that they were much too small to fully develop and explore even the initial possibilities of the uses for which they were intended. With the largest apertures available, although much too small, they were limited in size both by the best structural rigidity that could be obtained, and by the materials and methods that were used to provide supports and to steer the instruments. When the instruments were made large enough, they could not be made movable or steerable and therefore were unable to track celestial objects long enough for the required periods of observation.

The present invention is described as a steerable, trunnion-mounted, solid surface, paraboloidal antenna with an aperture of the order of 600 feet in diameter and a focal length of 180 feet which is balanced about a horizontal declination axis at the top of a tower carried by a large hydraulic turn-table at ground level for motions in azimuth.

An important object of the invention is to provide a large paraboloidal reflector having a surface which can be maintained to meet the desired degree of surface perfection and to support the reflector and antenna to turn about its horizontal declination axis and is mounted upon a large support in the form of a hydraulic turn-table for movement about a vertical axis.

Other important objects and advantages of this invention are:

To provide an automatic method and means for compensating the displacements caused by structural deflections and thus to insure a more perfect paraboloidal reflecting surface for the antenna in all positions at all times; to make possible the use of much shorter wave lengths with a larger antenna aperture and thus to extend the science of radio astronomy into new fields in which the horizon is pushed back a vast distance; to make it economically feasible to build giant movable antennas of unlimited size without being hampered by previous structural limitation; to provide a symmetrical support for the antenna at four main points in place of two, thereby making it possible to deliver the loads symmetrically to four main altitude bearings on two relatively very short shafts in place of reactions on only two main bearings at the ends of a single very long shaft; to provide much larger and stronger operating mechanisms both for holding the antenna about its declination axis and for holding it against winds of hurricane intensity; to provide a more perfect geometrical relationship between the locus of the focal point and the paraboloidal surface in all posi- States Patent tions at all times regardless of the weight of the focal equipment; to provide a solid surface for the reflector; to provide thermal control of the paraboloidal frameworks from the inside; to provide a new arrangement of surfacing elements having a great many duplications of each piece wherein all of the exacting work can be prefabricated in a shop and later shipped and erected in the field without false work, at a great saving in time and money; to provide a multiple unit cantilever system of strength in the surfacing elements in which any individual unit may be removed and replaced at any time; to make the surfacing elements as weldings from rolled or extruded sections of more economical proportions instead of as castings, and without necessity of machine finishing; to provide adjustable shims and power driven jacking wedges to meet the surface tolerances if it becomes necessary or desirable to increase the precision of the instrument; to provide a position indicator with direct reference to a permanent ground so that the true position of the antenna is precisely known at all times; to provide a hydraulic bearing having foundation reactions for unlimited size and for stabilizing the structure under operating conditions with the additional weight of fixed portions of the foundation itself; to provide a method for obtaining true and level bearing surfaces generated by turning the bearing and hold down rollers to a perfect fit with respect to a supporting track before they are permanently secured to the foundations; to reduce the returning friction only to that equal to the weight of the stabilizing forces instead of being applicable to the entire weight of the antenna; to spread foundation reactions over the entire bearing area and thus to reduce the costs of the foundations by reducing the intensity of the foundation pressures; to provide hydraulic rotor controls that can be used separately or superimposed on main driving gears for fine adjustments to a target when everything is already in motion, and for tracking purposes; and in general to provide a more stable structure which can be equally secured for survival conditions.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mounted paraboloidal antenna in accordance with this invention, as viewed from one side at the front thereof;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the mounting structure as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the supporting structure mounted upon the hydraulic base of which a portion is broken away to disclose details;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the antenna as shown in FIG. 1 with added sectional details of the supporting base;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the antenna as shown in FIG. 1 with a sectional detail of the mounting base;

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of the mounting base azimuth bearing;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of adjacen-t sectors shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the mounting base as taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of one of the inside azimuth rollers for the mounting base;

FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the mounting roller shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of one of the mounting trucks for the inside supporting track for the mounting base;

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of a counter-weighted truss for pivotally supporting the paraboloidal dish at the top of the tower as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; I 

1. IN A PARABOLIC ANTENNA, THE COMBINATION WITH A HORIZONTAL TRUNNION BEARING IN WHICH THE ANTENNA IS MOUNTED, A SUPPORTING TOWER FOR THE BEARING, A CIRCULAR RING FLOATATION BARGE ON WHICH THE TOWER IS MOUNTED, A CIRCULAR RING FLOATATION CHANNEL TO RECEIVE THE BARGE CLOSELY LIMITING ITS ROTATIVE MOVEMENT ABOUT THE AXIS THEREOF, A CONTACT SURFACE ON THE UPPER EDGE OF THE BARGE AND PLURALITY OF HORIZONTAL ROLLERS HAVING MOUNTINGS FIXED AT THE EDGE OF THE CHANNEL WITH THE ROLLERS EXTENDING OVER AND TO ENGAGE THE UPPER CONTACT SURFACE FOR LIMITING THE HEIGHT TO 